Drivers low beam out

torrimac

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2011
Location
Emporia, Kansas
TDI
2011 TDI Sedan DSG
So, I thought my bulb was burnt out. Turns out that was not the case.

Fuse is good. Position 18 in the cab. Fuse actually has power when the head lights are turned on. But no power runs out to the Plug.

I cant see any broken wires anywhere but not exactly sure which wire goes where.


Any ideas?
 

JBell

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2012
Location
None
TDI
None
Ironically, my driver's low beam just went out as well. Car is hardly 2 years old. I'm not sure what it is with VWs, but it's not uncommon for headlights to last only a few years.
 

torrimac

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2011
Location
Emporia, Kansas
TDI
2011 TDI Sedan DSG
well, I learned tonight that the low beam stays on when the high beam comes on. Some, not all, other vehicles ive driven the low will shut down and a higher wattage, brighter bulb will light for the high beam.
 

IggyATC

New member
Joined
Jan 20, 2015
Location
Charles Town, WV, USA
TDI
2012 Jetta
I have replaced 3 low beam bulbs already on my 2012 Jetta.
They all failed during extreme cold...which made replacing them a finger numbing ordeal. Not sure if the cold contributed, or if it was just coincidence.
 

Bigwhitebeast

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2012
Location
New York
TDI
2012 Jetta
I drive a lot and quite a bit of the time with my headlights on. I have replaced 5 or 6 headlamps in under 3 years. The car has 68,000 on it. I actually bought a box of 10 bulbs off of Amazon because of the great price and the amount I replace them.

If you put the brighter higher wattage bulbs (read more expensive) in there they will probably last a shorter amount of time too.
 

FVWVWF

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Location
Canada
TDI
Sold - 2012 TDI Highline Manual
My 2012 is at 78,000 kms and replaced the bulbs twice.
Last year around summer....and 2 weeks ago in the freezing cold.
 

rwehuman

on banned subject probation
Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Location
Delaware
TDI
2012 TDI jetta
6 bulbs in 2 years. I lost track of details but high and low beam also a tag light too. and the last thing was the trunk-lid running lights. bulbs were fine but the board they sat in were bad. no bulb issues in >knocks on wood< 4 months. All bulbs that did fail were dealer bulbs, after market bulbs have been fine.

The dealer I went to was not much help ( when it was under warranty) 100,000 miles in 28 months, they would just replace the bad bulb and say.......
Dealer: ummm duh we fixed the problem duh
Me: well what was the problem?
Dealer: ummm duh the bulb was burnt out duh
Me: but what caused it?
Dealer: ummm duh light works fine now
Me: No you just replaced the bulb, why in GODS NAME did I loose not one not two not three but SIX Mother love'n bulbs in less than two years?!?
Dealer: ummm duh, your bulb was burnt out duh. its fixed now.
Yea that was winner VW of Dover Delaware.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
6 bulbs in 2 years. I lost track of details but high and low beam also a tag light too. and the last thing was the trunk-lid running lights. bulbs were fine but the board they sat in were bad. no bulb issues in >knocks on wood< 4 months. All bulbs that did fail were dealer bulbs, after market bulbs have been fine.

The dealer I went to was not much help ( when it was under warranty) 100,000 miles in 28 months, they would just replace the bad bulb and say.......
Dealer: ummm duh we fixed the problem duh
Me: well what was the problem?
Dealer: ummm duh the bulb was burnt out duh
Me: but what caused it?
Dealer: ummm duh light works fine now
Me: No you just replaced the bulb, why in GODS NAME did I loose not one not two not three but SIX Mother love'n bulbs in less than two years?!?
Dealer: ummm duh, your bulb was burnt out duh. its fixed now.
Yea that was winner VW of Dover Delaware.
So, tell me, how would the dealer know what's causing bulbs to burn out and why would that make him a retard if he didn't know?

I'm at 148K miles on my 2006 and still running the original high beams, and the 2nd set of low beams. The difference with my car is that I turned off the DRL's at about 10K miles.
 

rwehuman

on banned subject probation
Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Location
Delaware
TDI
2012 TDI jetta
So, tell me, how would the dealer know what's causing bulbs to burn out and why would that make him a retard if he didn't know?
He is the dealer.
It is his job to fix it.
Maybe not to know it right off the bat what it is but call up the food chain and figure it out. If I could call VW RD I would but I cant thats why I go to him and, and,and seen as how it is under his warranty and S I X bulbs blew in less than two years........ He should have done his job. end of story.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
Something you might suggest is that the charging voltage is to high. Next time you have them replace a bulb, ask your tech to check it. To high a charging voltage will blow bulbs, as well as the reduced voltage that DRL's provide.

Being that VW provides almost zero time for diagnosis for warranty work, the tech did his job within the constraints of the warranty system.

Disabling the DRL's and replacing your light switch with a Euro-Switch, would probably fix your problem.
 
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kevlartdi

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Location
East Texas
TDI
'11 Jetta TDI
All - have a 2011 TDI and I have been tearing my hair out searching for an ACCURATE fuse diagram so I can replace the driver-side low-beam fuse. Can someone tell me - better yet - attach a photo with the fuse circled?
 

kevlartdi

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Location
East Texas
TDI
'11 Jetta TDI
I finally was managed to find a diagram but it was ambiguous as to which affects low-beam performance. The fuses I have for headlights - according to the diagrams - are all in tact.
 

torrimac

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2011
Location
Emporia, Kansas
TDI
2011 TDI Sedan DSG
If you did like me... You are changing the wrong bulb. I spent an hour troubleshooting wiring and fuses.. only to realize I was pulling the high beam bulb out instead of the low beam. I let my wife slap me. She was happy. I was happy. Then, I saw the light.
 

kevlartdi

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Location
East Texas
TDI
'11 Jetta TDI
Well, I started to think that's maybe what I did but the bulb doesn't work when I pull it then swap it out. I guess I need to chase down wiring.
 

Scoutx

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2012
Location
Virginia
TDI
2012 Jetta (6MT) - 1000 Mile Club (retired)___ 2015 Jetta SEL (6MT)
The H7 bulb used in our VWs only has a 350hr life. In the old days of the 900x, the low beam bulb had a life of like 1000hr. So, naturally you're going to be changing the bulb more often. Nothing that VW did, other than the bulb selection, but then we're getting a lot more lumens out than the 900x low beam bulbs as well. Indeed the numbers are more like the 900x high beams, and we have 4 such bulbs. More light, less life. Though I do like the HIR bulbs, which give the best of both worlds and wish VW has selected them....though I suppose availability would be an issue since they aren't going to be in stock in the vast majority of stores that carry auto parts.

As it is, I simply keep a replacement or two in the trunk, and replace the one bad bulb as needed. Only takes a minute or two and as such it's not a big deal, assuming you can get the bulb back in and don't have to fiddle with it much.
 

redbarron55

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Location
Navarre, FL.
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI Executive
I had a problem and checked the voltage at the bulb and found that the ground pin on the connector to the headlight assembly was bad. I cleaned the plug and fixed the problem.
 

kevlartdi

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Location
East Texas
TDI
'11 Jetta TDI
Torrimac nailed it. I replaced the hi-beam instead of the lo. D'OH!!!!! This time, I looked at during the day when I could see better.
 

NCRand

New member
Joined
Apr 9, 2022
Location
Cameron NC
TDI
2015 Jetta SEL TDI
I just spent the last couple of hours beating my head against the wall because my passenger low beam wasn't working even after I switched out the...the...DANG HIGH BEAMS!!! I would have gone to the weekend and start rewiring the connector if I hadn't read this thread. Double dang...
 
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